Monday, May 23, 2016

Happy Birthday

So let's flashback about 10 years ago or so....

Cathy and I are in Iqaluit without a pet. This is an unusual set of circumstance as neither one of us had gone long without one. But my cat, Max, passed away the previous August and we were getting anxious. We wanted something. Cathy's allergic to both cats and dogs, but some dogs affected her less than others. For example, beagles are very, very bad. She adapted to Max, but it took some doing.

So, a dog. Adding to the mix was the apartment we were living in didn't allow dogs. This was among it's many flaws, including being right above the Storehouse bar, having a neighbour who thought it was acceptable to blast the Top Gun soundtrack at 8 am on a Saturday and another neighbour who must have been president of the local Marijuana Party(or at least too stupid to actually take measure to cover the smell a bit).

So we were going to get another apartment. And we wanted a dog to go with that apartment (the timing of those two things were a bit dicier than we had planned, but it worked out).

Via the recommendation of a friend we started looking at Coton de Tulears, which is a snooty sounding name, but they were exactly the kind of dog breed we were looking for. Small, because we were living in an apartment, they don't shed and are good for people with allergies, and very sociable and playful.

So we reached out to a breeder in Ottawa. They were called Pick of the Litter back then, but I see they're called Riverport Kennels now. And after getting grilled a bit on if we would make good dog owners (which I totally respect, by the way) we agreed to get a puppy.

And 10 years ago this weekend, May 21 to be exact, we got this picture.

And then a couple of months later, we flew Boo up to Iqaluit (but not until Cathy got a two hour seminar on proper Coton de Tulear care, special water and his blanket to help ease with the transition).

It's hard to state how important he's been in our lives. Cathy's joked many times that she needs something to pick on and it was either me or the dog. I have, on more than one occasion, when I recognize one of "those" moods, picked up the dog and given him to her. At this point Boo normally shoots me a look that say "thanks pal". But hey, it's him or me.

He is, simply a good dog. He keeps us company. He makes us laugh. He cuddles in when we need it. He ably defends his house from the twin threats of the Water Truck and the Sewage Truck on a daily basis by barking until they flee.

If there is anything wrong with him it's that he doesn't interact with other dogs well, and that's entirely our fault. His first apartment was in downtown in Iqaluit. And while we might have kept him on a leash there were a lot of strays around, some of them quite aggressive. You spend enough time pulling him away from strange dogs and, well, he learned a lesson we might have preferred he didn't.

And at 10....well, he's slowing down a touch. He doesn't like longer walks and he's perfectly willing to cuddle more these days. But slowing down doesn't mean old. He still insists on playing several times a day and still has manic bursts of energy where he runs up and down the hallway barking for several minutes.

And on days where maybe work sucked or things are just blah, he's always there. He's a pure bred Coton de Tulear and they're not cheap. But I don't think you can put a price on a good companion who keeps you happy and sane on days when that can't be a challenge.

So Happy Birthday, Boo. Here's to many more...

Last Five
1. The scarlet tide - Allison Krauss*
2. Where did you sleep last night? - Nirvana
3. She opens her eyes - Keane
4. All to all - Broken Social Scene
5. Consistency of Sound - Ian Foster Band